


it isn't the same but it is enough

by katwow



Category: Love Simon (2018), Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda - Becky Albertalli
Genre: Detention, Fluff, Getting Together, High School, M/M, Online Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-20
Updated: 2018-06-20
Packaged: 2019-05-25 19:31:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14984045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katwow/pseuds/katwow
Summary: It was ridiculous. Simon’s militant avoidance of his PD/H/PE lessons had finally landed him four afternoon detentions. Four!





	it isn't the same but it is enough

**Author's Note:**

> breakfast club but without the delinquents lol.  
> set after martin outs simon, while his friends are ignoring him.

Simon watched the second hand of the clock tick, tapping his fingers lightly against the desk. The time between each tick seemed to stretch on forever, the sounds of the quiet classroom amplified as he felt his brain slowly melt out of his ears.

It was ridiculous. Simon’s militant avoidance of his PD/H/PE lessons had finally landed him four afternoon detentions. Four!

He had also hoped that the teachers would cut him some slack, seeing as everyone was avoiding him. Simon’s biggest secret had been spilled by none other than Martin Addison. He had been outed, humiliated by the fact that his secret was no longer under his own control. He was seriously considering climbing out of the window and into the car park just to let this day be done.

Simon watched the seconds tick by, completely miserable. He had resigned himself to a life of boredom and misery when he heard a knock on the door. Standing there in all his glory was Coach Smith, potbellied as ever, and behind him was Bram.

Bram, the cute guy from his English class. Bram, who smiled at him this morning. Bram, with the beautiful eyes. Bram, who had treated him no differently since he had been outed.

“Got a new one for you, Mr Lynch.” Coach said, stepping aside as Bram walked in with his head bowed. God, Simon was itching to find out what he was in for. Abraham Greenfeld was adorably shy, and had hardly said two words to Simon since middle school. They were in a few of the same classes, and Bram usually sat with Nick and Garret at the same table as Simon. Usually, they could pass as acquaintances. Hopefully this would be no different.

Simon shot him a smile, hoping that at least once today, he wouldn’t be alone. He was doubtful seeing as Bram was a jock, and therefore far outside the realm of people he could reasonably trust. His hope began to falter as Bram stared at the ground, clearly uninterested in greeting Creekwood’s resident gay kid. Simon’s mood turned sour as he faced the window, already beginning to count the tiles on the ceiling.

“Hey” Bram whispered.

“Hi” Simon replied, a little shocked. He had expected Bram to sit in the corner, far away from Simon, lest he become an outcast just like him. Although he was still shocked, he quickly covered. “Why are you in detention?” he asked, quick words betraying his anxiety.

“I- uhh…” Bram stammered, his eyes meeting Simons’ for a second before turning away. “I may have gotten in a fight? With this guy on the soccer team…”

“Oh. Wow.” Simon was suddenly even more nervous. Maybe this was all a joke? If Bram was going around and beating kids up, surely he wouldn’t miss his chance to taunt the newly outed Simon. Luckily Simon seemed to function on nervous energy and soldiered on, rambling a little. “I’m only here because I always bring in a note to avoid PE. Why’d you fight him?”

“He uhh.. He said some unkind things.” Bram said, ducking his head. Shit. Bram was attractive. Simon could admit that perhaps he was being a bit thick, gazing into his deep brown eyes as Bram talked about beating someone up, but he couldn’t help himself.

Simon shook himself, mentally filing those thoughts away for a time when he wasn’t newly outed and friendless. He turned back to the clock, counting the seconds until he could finally go home.

-

The next day, Simon slumped into his chair next to Bram. He smiled weakly, peeking out from under his folded arms. Another day sitting in the corner of the cafeteria, staring down at his phone as he waited for Blue to reply. He was hurt that Blue had completely disappeared, more than he was when his friends had decided to abandon him. His friends had some kind of reason for leaving him, but he had hoped that by keeping Blue completely separate from them would mean that he would at least offer him some sympathy. Then again, Simon wasn’t the only one who had been outed when Martin submitted his post to creeksecrets.

Simon was jerked back to reality when Bram started poking him in the side. Simon glanced around, only to see that Mr Lynch had left the room.

“Hey, Simon, did you get this question on the bio quiz?” Bram whispered.

“Oh, uhh… I don’t do biology, sorry. Where did Mr Lynch go?” Simon replied.

“Oh, sorry. I’m pretty sure he wasn’t at school today,” Bram said, brow furrowing adorably. “I wonder who’s covering for him…”

“You know, my friend Leah’s really good at science,” Simon said, realising his mistakes seconds too late. He blushed, looking down. Bram had surely noticed his absence at the table, even though they sat at opposite ends. His blush began to spread from his cheeks to his ears, deepening as he noticed the heat across his chest.

“Yeah, I know. She sits right at the front, gets every question right. I’d ask her for help, but she’s sort of…” Bram trailed off, eyeing the tips of Simon’s ears.

“Intimidating? Trust me, I know.” Simon cut in.

Bram was silent for a few minutes, turning back to his homework. When he spoke up again, Simon was sure he’d misheard.

“You know, I don’t think what they’re doing is right” Bram said, close to a whisper as the kids near the front got rowdier.

“Sorry?”

“Treating you as if you’ve done something wrong, making themselves the victim.”

Simon secretly agreed, but was too shocked to answer Bram as he continued ranting to his worksheet.

“It’s not your fault! You’ve had one of your secrets, a private piece of yourself, revealed to the whole school! And they decide that they aren’t happy that you tried to avoid letting everyone know by setting Abby up?” Bram was looking at Simon know, anger sharpening his features. “Everyone else is just as bad, too. Staying away from you because they’re scared you’ll make them look bad.”

Simon didn’t know what to say. Abraham Greenfeld, cute Abraham Greenfeld, Abraham Greenfeld who was part of the school soccer team, Abraham Greenfeld who was in detention for getting into a fight, was angry for Simon. Angry that in small-town Georgia, people weren’t as sweet as they seemed.

“It’s this kind of stuff that makes me so much angrier that the default is always straight. Why should it matter who you want to love! You aren’t hurting anyone. Honestly, people in this town make me want to get out so much more. It’s suffocating.” Bram finished, sitting straight up and gesturing with his hands.

“I-uhh.. I don’t know what to say.” Simon breathed, not trusting his voice to be much more than a whisper. “Thank you, Bram. I feel like I’m suffocating too.” Suddenly, Simon missed Blue more than ever. He knew that if Blue were by his side, he would be able to share his loneliness and how constricted he felt in Creekwood.

Mr Wise came in seconds later, apologising for his lateness. Simon quickly moved to face the front, Bram putting away his homework. They sat in silence for the remainder of detention, but Simon had a feeling in his chest that everything was going to turn out just fine.

-

Simon was just finishing off the last of his French homework when he got a notification from his gmail tab. He had been keeping it open just in case Blue decided to reply to him. He hurriedly saved his work and switched to his internet browser **.**

He was surprised and exceedingly nervous when he saw that Blue had replied to his latest email. With his heart beating in his ears, he opened it.

_Dear Jacques,_

_I’m sorry. I am so sorry. I can’t believe that I’ve done the single worst thing anyone could do to you at this point in time. I abandoned you at the time when you needed me most, scared that others would find out who I am too. I’m sorry. I hope we can be friends again._

_Simon. The one who sees. It fits, I think. I’m sorry you’ve only been watching for so long. Sorry you’ve been stuck on the outside. I hope that now you can be who you are (even if you weren’t ready), you’re able to finally join in. You deserve a love story, Simon._

_Love,_ _  
__Blue_

 

Simon smiled so wide, his face went numb. He went to sleep, dreaming about cute boys and ferris wheels.

-

Simon had been smiling all day, and continued smiling as he walked into detention. He sat down in his usual spot next to Bram, grateful for the sun streaming through the window.

“Hey Bram!” Simon greeted him enthusiastically.

“Simon! Hey!” Bram smiled his beautiful smile, looking up from his phone.

Mr Lynch appeared at the front of the classroom, silencing the last few students as they came through the doors. Simon settled in for a long afternoon.’

What felt like minutes later, Mr Lynch was packing up and Bram was nudging him gently.

“Good morning sleeping beauty!” Bram shook him awake gently, causing Simon’s heart to skip a beat. They exited the class together, falling into step beside each other easily.

“So, what are you going to do with the over abundance of free time you now have, one who sees?” Bram teased, grinning widely.

“Oh, you know. Get into fights, join a gang. The usual teen stuff” Simon replied.

“I could teach you how to throw a mean right hook” Bram joked. “Saved my ass a few times, that’s for sure.”

“Oh, I’m sure, Mr ‘I have detention for the foreseeable future for beating someone up” Simon joked back. The silence went for a beat too long and anxiety began to curl around Simon’s chest, worried he’d gone too far.

“Simon… I was serious when I said he was saying unkind things. He was talking about Ethan, and you, and all this terrible homophobic stuff. I don’t stand for that, and I don’t want my team to become an unsafe place for people like… People like me and you.” He blushed as he said the last part, glancing around the hallway.

For the second time this week, Simon was speechless. He was happy, so happy that he wasn’t the only one at Creekwood. Well, the only one except for Blue, but that was a matter for a different time.

“I uhh… Thank you? I guess? For protecting my honour and all. I’m really glad you told me.” Simon was starting to ramble and he knew it. But what was he supposed to do? There was only so much his gay little heart could take.

Luckily, Bram took it in stride. He smiled at Simon, his face gorgeous in the late afternoon sun. Simon was a little starstruck, shocked at how this had turned out. They parted ways at the gate, Simon’s smile firmly in place.

-

Simon was sitting on his bed, waiting for a reply from Blue. He knew generally when Blue was most likely to reply, so he was staying up to hear from him. He turned his phone slowly in his hands, his laptop open beside him.

Simon was just beginning to drift off when his phone vibrated and his laptop chimed at the same moment. He sat up abruptly, switching tabs on his laptop.

_Dear Simon,_

_I’m glad I messaged you again too. I’m still so sorry that I disappeared. I’m glad to hear that you’ve been keeping busy, however I’m not entirely sure how you of all people ended up in detention._

_I hope it’s okay if I tell you I’m glad it’s you. That secretly, I think you’re quite cute. I hope that’s okay, because I think I’m finally ready to tell you who I am._

_Meet me in the quad at lunch. I’ll be wearing a red beanie. I’ll wait for you, even if you never come._

_Love,  
_ _Blue_

-

Simon was about to burst out of his skin. His leg was jiggling under his table, the people around him giving him worried looks. He stared at the second hand on the clock, waiting for the bell to ring. He heard people packing up their books at the tables near him, but he couldn’t take his eyes off the clock.

The bell still came as a shock, Simon scrambling to pack his things away. He hurried out the door, apologising to the people he pushed away as he entered the corridor. He was almost at the door when he heard someone call his name.

“Simon! Hey!” Bram jogged over to him, smile wide as he walked beside Simon.

“Hey Bram!” Simon replied, looking around the almost empty quad to see if he could spot anyone in a red hat. Bram continued along beside him.

“It’s pretty chilly today, don’t you think?” Bram said, rummaging in his bag.

“Yeah, it’s been warm lately” Simon said distractedly, still peering across the quad. Bram was silent, but he seemed to be travelling in the same direction as Simon.

“So.. uh, I guess today’s your last day in detention.” Bram said suddenly. Simon turned to look at him, and… Oh.

He was wearing a red beanie. He was walking beside Simon, in the quad, wearing a red hat. Simon almost couldn’t believe it.

“You’re… Uh.. It’s you?” Simon stammered, speechless. The pieces began to fit together. Blue was crazy smart. Bram was black and Jewish. Blue had apologised after Bram spoke to him in detention. Bram was… Bram was looking just as nervous as Simon felt. “I mean! I’m so glad it’s you. I- well.” Bram was beginning to smile, looking at Simon with unfiltered adoration.

“You were saying?” Bram teased, and oh. Bram had been flirting with him this whole time, because Bram liked Simon. Bram thought Simon was cute! Simon’s heart was full to bursting with this sudden revelation.

“Just. You’re really attractive” Simon blushed immediately, embarrassed that now Blue was standing in front of him, and this was all he could say.

But Bram blushed too, sitting down on the bleachers and pulling a pack of oreos out of his bag.

-

Simon smiled openly at Bram as he walked into detention that afternoon. They sat in the same seats, Simon staring ahead at the clock and Bram down at his hands, however the time passed much quicker as they kept glancing at each other.

When Mr Lynch finally dismissed them, Simon jumped out of his seat and all but dragged Bram out of his seat. They nearly ran out of the school doors and into the carpark.

“Well, this is me.” Simon smiled at Bram softly, suddenly nervous.

“This is you.” Bram replied with an easy grin.

Simon waited one beat, then two. “Well, I’d better get going’”

“How do you feel about waffles?” Bram blurted out, his smile turning sheepish as the tips of his ears reddened.

“How do _I_ feel about waffles? Bram, that is an extremely loaded question. I’m not entirely sure you know what you’re getting yourself into.” Oh no, Simon was flirting, abort mission, abort mission!

“I’d love to find out your exact thoughts on waffles” Bram said, leaning against Simon’s car. He was flirting back! Bram, Abraham Greenfeld who played soccer and got into fights with bigots, was flirting with Simon Spier. “What are you doing this Friday?”

This was it. Simon Spier must have died some time around the start of the week and was now passing into heaven. He was so shell shocked he almost didn’t answer, but when Bram’s smile started to droop he panicked.

“Um. Wow… Getting waffles with this cute boy, I guess?” Simon pretended to be nonchalant about it all, but he was pretty sure he was failing miserably.

“Should I be jealous?” Bram’s smile was back, and God did he look amazing, body stretched out as he leant against the car.

“A little. He has a great smile.” Simon said shyly.

**Author's Note:**

> hope you guys enjoyed! come yell at me on twitter @sunflowerspier


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